the eastlake news · the eastlake news spring 2012 continued on page 2 and 3 meet mayor mike mcginn...

Coming events

The Eastlake NewsSpring 2012

continued on page 2 and 3

Meet Mayor Mike McGinn for questions and discussion. Tues., March 6, 5-6 p.m. at TOPS-Seward School, 2500 Franklin Ave. E. Public meeting on revitalizing Eastlake’s North Gateway, with I-5 noise update. Wed., March 7, 7 p.m. at TOPS-Seward School, 2500 Franklin Ave. E. See article, p. 1.

Shoreline restoration work party. Sun., March 11, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 1500 and 1600 blocks of Fairview Ave. E.

“Mysteries of Lake Union uncovered by SONAR, SCUBA, photography, chemistry, and biology.” Mon, April 23, 7 p.m. at TOPS-Seward School. Slide show talk by Dick Wagner of Center for Wooden Boats. See photos and caption, p. 19

ECC spring celebration. Thurs., May 3, 5-8 p.m. at the Ship Canal Grill, 3218 Eastlake Ave. E. Small bites at no charge, $4-$7 appe-tizers, $5 wines, $4 beers, and $5 well drinks. See back page.

Public meeting on Eastlake neighborhood projects and needs. Mon., May 7, 7 p.m. at TOPS-Seward School. See article, p. 8

ArtFest at TOPS-Seward School. Fri., May 18, 6-9 p.m. Student art everywhere.

Public meeting about crime, July 4, disaster preparedness. Wed., June 13, 7 p.m. at TOPS-Seward School. See article, p. 8 Seattle Night Out. Tues., Aug. 7. Organize a street party for fun and to team-build for crime prevention and emergency preparedness. Info: http://seattle.gov/police/nightout or on Face-book.

Revitalizing Eastlake’s North Gateway is topic of March 7 public meeting

Under the I-5 Ship Canal bridge, the triangle of public land where Eastlake Avenue and Harvard Avenue intersect forms a

gateway into our neighborhood, could answer the question “Where am I?” for visitors and Eastlake residents passing through it each day. Currently, the answer the space gives is “Not much of any-where at all” – cementing the idea that Eastlake is a traffic corridor first and a neighborhood second (or not at all).

Seattle’s comprehensive plan designates Eastlake as a “residential urban village,” but under the bridge it doesn’t feel that way. Despite the 1998 Eastlake Neighborhood Plan’s designating the site as the North Gateway and restoring the landscape of decorative granite walls and plantings that WSDOT installed in 1962, the space still feels largely empty.

Here the freeway destroyed a much-loved pharmacy and ice cream parlor and many homes, and the area is now a glaring gap in Eastlake’s increasingly lively north end. New apartments, condominiums, restaurants and other businesses around the North Gateway public space are making the neighborhood better and they

The Eastlake Newspage 2

Eastlake Community Council117 E. Louisa Street, #1Seattle, WA 98102-3278

[email protected]

Chris LemanPresident

Zac EskenaziVice President

Lynn PoserTreasurer

Elizabeth NorvellSecretary

Board Member:Barbara Heather

Editor:Judy Smith

Advertising Coordinator:Kevin Haywood, Jr.

The Eastlake News is a quarterly publication of the Eastlake Community Council. We welcome comments, articles or images for possible publication; please include a contact phone number. Articles may be edited for length and clarity. Articles in the newsletter represent the view of the author and not necessarily the ECC. Please send submissions to [email protected] or by U.S. mail to the return address on the back of this newsletter. For advertising contact Kevin Haywood, Jr. at [email protected].

The deadline for ads and submissions is: Jan. 20 for spring issue; April 20 for summer issue; July 20 for fall issue; October 20 for winter issue. Publication schedule is as follows:

Spring - March, April MaySummer - June, July, AugustFall - September, October, NovemberWinter - December, January February

Masthead artwork sketch by Victor Steinbrueck. Other artwork sketches by Karen Berry.

deserve to have this public space work for them and for all of us. What can we do to improve this “front door” and make it an active part of the community?

The Eastlake Community Council’s Jan. 9 public meeting started a com-munity conversation about revitalizing the North Gateway and welcomes your reactions and suggestions. Below are some ideas that were discussed:

Public art. A significant art work here could make a powerful first impression, as do the ‘Chinatown Gates’ seen in many cities. This is not to say that any artwork in the underpass needs to be explicitly gate-like in nature, just that creating strong visual features that travelers pass through can strongly indicate the identity of the area. It’s fun to imagine the possibilities and we’re eager to hear your ideas for the space. Suggested art work includes:

• Beautiful signage welcoming visitors to Eastlake (and via Harvard Ave. to the Portage Bay/Roanoke Park neighborhood)

• A sculptural pile of cars, incorporating a giant noise meter• Statues of alpinists climbing up the bridge columns, meant to induce double

takes.• A distinctive gate-like structure straddling Eastlake Avenue.• The Fremont Bridge Troll’s female counterpart.• Tubular bells that artfully ‘tune’ the noise coming off I-5 into something

more harmonious.• Vibrant paint applied to the Ship Canal Bridge’s massive structural sup-

ports.

Activities. Although there is much noise on either side of the I-5 Ship Ca-nal Bridge, the space directly under the freeway has only limited noise and is, of course, protected from the rain. Could the area be designed to attract new activities? Other communities have transformed similar spaces with posi-tive uses. Eastlake itself has had recent success in this regard, with the unique Colonnade Park that has greatly improved the area under I-5 south of Newton

You can now find Eastlake Community Council on Facebook. Find out the latest news about the ECC and become a fan by clicking Like on our Page.

Revitalizing Eastlake’s North Gateway continued

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Street. Examples of activities that have been successful in other cities include:

• Burnside Skate park under the Burnside Bridge in Portland, Oregon was constructed by skaters and eventu-ally gained iconic status and official sanction. The Seattle Depart-ment of Parks and Recreation has already designated the North Gateway as a site for a pos-sible skateboard park. Should the neighborhood encourage this use?

• SEART Park in Mt. Wellington, New Zealand contains a forest of brightly colored pillars and lighting, as be-ing under a freeway overpass a canopy of trees would merely darken the space. Here in Seattle, the new park at the corner of Queen Anne Avenue and Roy Street uses LED lighting to create a wonderful panorama after dark.

• Jose Marti Park in Miami, Florida features basketball courts under I-95. In addition to basketball, what other sports could be accommodated in the North Gateway?

• WSDOT traditionally allows no buildings to be con-structed under freeways, but maybe we could get an exception here—it would certainly make for great retail locations. Short of that, temporary business uses surely could be accommodated, such as booths or trucks for food, bicycle rental and repair, crafts, or other items. Even tiny Wallace, Idaho has an Under the Freeway Flea Market.

The new private development around the North Gateway hints at the public site’s tremendous potential. Revitalizing this underused triangle of land would benefit those nearby, all of Eastlake, and Seattle as a whole. The Eastlake Com-munity Council invites all to join in exploring the possi-bilities. ECC is committed to an extensive public process which welcomes anyone to suggest or comment on ideas.

On this topic, please attend the public meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7, at TOPS-Seward School, 2500 Franklin Ave. E. And whether or not you can be there, please send your thoughts, and volunteer: [email protected] or c/o ECC, 117 E. Louisa St. #1, Seattle 98102-3278. ECC’s contacts on the project are Elizabeth Norvell, [email protected]; and Bryan Partington, [email protected], (206) 419-1578.

Photos by Jeffrey Edward


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The neighborhood plan involves many actions, one being a mutual commitment by the City and the neighborhood to develop Eastlake-specific guidelines for developers and City planners to use in designing and approving new multi-family and commercial buildings. These would be supple-mental guidelines to the ones the DPD imposes citywide, developed specifically to suit the needs and characteristics of the Eastlake neighborhood. The Eastlake Community Council is working with Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD) on the specifics of these guide-lines.

In 2008, making use of the proposals in the neighbor-hood plan, the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) produced draft supplemental guidelines for the Eastlake neighborhood (posted at eastlakeseattle.org). In 2012, the ECC elaborated on these guidelines and pro-posed additional supplemental guidelines. In preparation for a Feb. 7, 2012 public meeting ECC developed a table that compares item-by-item the supplemental guidelines found in the 2008 draft with those the ECC developed in 2012 (this document is also posted on the website). On some key points the proposals are essentially the same, but the ECC believes that the guidelines put forward by DPD in 2008 should include stronger language and supplemen-tal guidelines in the following areas:

Site planning – ECC has added supplemental guide-lines for the site planning section of the design standards guidelines. These supplemental guidelines are missing from the 2008 DPD draft.

Roof Sightlines and Roofscapes –Roof sightlines and roofscapes impact distant views and views from the street. The ECC has proposed more detailed guidelines for the construction and orientation of roofscapes and roof sightlines, providing developers with a clear expectation of how to preserve views and also enhance them.

Reuse and preservation of existing structures – ECC has proposed stronger language for guidelines, creating an incentive program encouraging developers to preserve existing structures.

Building façade mass, bulk, and character – The guidelines drafted in 2008 by DPD address building façade, mass, bulk, and character and the guidelines for building façade character and material are very detailed. However, in regards to building width, ECC has proposed guidelines that we believe will have more favorable im-pact.

Pedestrian Connections – Pedestrian connections in a neighborhood are important and the 2008 draft supplemental guidelines address some aspects of pedestrian connections. ECC has proposed additional guidelines to accommodate pedestrian connections in the neighborhood.

In order to best facilitate the City Council hearing and

by Zac Eskenazi, ECC Vice President

The Eastlake Neighborhood Plan was developed with extensive public input by neighborhood stakeholders

including the Eastlake Community Council (ECC), and adopted by the Seattle City Council and Mayor in 1999.

continued on page 6


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adoption process, it is the Eastlake Community Council’s hope to work out with the Department of Planning and Development a set of proposed design guidelines that would come jointly from DPD and ECC. If areas of differ-ence remain, the neighborhood position can be presented directly to the City Council, which will invite public com-ment and hold a public hearing at which any member of the public may testify. Then the City Council will make the final choice between the DPD proposal and any alternative proposals.

There is, however, a possible case for not having certain kinds of neighborhood-specific design guidelines, as the design review process has too often been used to depart from development regulations and standards in the Land Use Code in ways that simply make buildings larger, with less open space, etc., instead of making them better while complying with regulations and standards. There is no real standard for determining whether a project offers sufficient benefit for the requested departures -- the Code simply says ”Departures may be allowed if an applicant demonstrates that departures from Land Use Code requirements would result in a development that better meets the intent of ad-opted design guidelines.”

DPD, the design review boards, and applicants thus may cite design guidelines as giving them broad authority to, in effect, amend or repeal parts of the Land Use Code, with-out any means for the public to measure what constitutes a “better” project. This problem might be a reason to leave certain topics entirely out of design guidelines, although it may also be possible to include in the guidelines (either generally or in individual guidelines) some language regu-lating how departures should be evaluated and when they should be granted.

The Eastlake Community Council invites the public to comment on proposals for Eastlake-specific supplemental design guidelines. The document that compares the pro-posed 2008 draft supplemental guidelines with the more recent guidelines proposed by ECC can be found at east-lakeseattle.org. Where the two drafts differ, what is your preference? Do you have proposals that differ from either draft? Written questions, comments, and suggested revi-sions are welcome and may be submitted to [email protected] or by U.S. mail to ECC, 117 E. Louisa St. #1, Seattle, WA 98102-3278. Please submit your comments on the new proposed guidelines by mid-April 2012. The ECC will then incorporate the changes and comments received from the neighborhood and present these revisions at a future ECC public meeting, date to be determined.

This car suffered from ice that a WSDOT snowplow pushed from I-5 the night of Jan. 19. If your car or property receives damage from the freeway above, you can file a claim. For information: http://www.ofm.wa.gov/rmd/tort or 1-800-737-0615.

Design Guidelines cont. from pg. 4


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The Eastlake Newspage 8Mark your calendar

Public Meetings

At this Wed., June 13 public meeting (7 p.m. at TOPS-Seward School, 2500 Franklin Ave. E.) Seattle Police Dept. representatives will discuss plans for controlling traffic and crowds the day of the July 4 fireworks; and year-round ef-forts in partnership with the neighborhood to prevent crime and prepare for disasters.

On Tuesday, Aug. 7, neighborhood street parties are free of the need for a permit or fee, so long as you register with the Police Department. “Night Out” helps neighbors meet each other, toward starting a block watch and emergency preparedness team. Registration information will be avail-able at http://seattle.gov/police/nightout and on Facebook at Seattle Night Out.

Volunteers are needed to report and/or paint out graffiti; please contact [email protected]. You can report graffiti (and water pollution and illegal dumping) by phone

The Eastlake Community Council regularly hosts public meetings about ongoing neighborhood projects and needs, some stemming from the City-adopted 1998 Eastlake Neighborhood plan. Please come Mon., May 7, 7 p.m. at TOPS-Seward School, 2500 Franklin Ave. E. to discuss ex-isting or proposed projects such as for traffic, pedestrians, bicycles, buses, parks, drainage, arts, or (fill in this blank!).

ECC recently applied for funds to install sidewalks missing on Allison and Hamlin streets between Eastlake Ave. and Fairview E.; landscape and make safer the median islands at the intersection of Eastlake Ave. and Fairview Ave. N.; install a walkway along the line of maple trees in the parking lot just west of Fairview Ave. E. between Roa-noke and Louisa streets; and create an opening in the guard rail to allow users to enter and exit the northwestern elbow of the switchback trail in Colonnade Park. Your ideas and volunteer involvement are needed and wanted on these and future projects: [email protected] and/or see you on May 7!

Preparedness for crime, emergencies, and July 4 featured at June 13 public meeting

Public meeting on projects and needs is May 7

continued on page 11


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The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is press-ing the City Council to approve a private skybridge over Eastlake Ave. in the long block between Nelson Place and Aloha Street. Because of shade, distraction of drivers, and other negatives, Seattle prohibits new skybridges unless there is no feasible alternative. A private skybridge would leave the crossing unsafe for the general public, which uses bus stops on both sides of Eastlake Ave.

At its Nov. 14 public meeting, ECC hosted a Center pre-sentation and a discussion with the public. Subsequently, the ECC board authorized a letter to the City urging that all feasible alternatives be considered, especially those which accommodate the public and make it safer for all (not just Hutch staff) to cross Eastlake Avenue at that point. It ap-pears that neither the Hutch nor the Seattle Department of Transportation have proactively studied the provision of public access through a different skybridge and/or tunnel design than they have so far presented.

Open to the public as well as to their own staff are a pedestrian tunnel under NE Pacific St. built by UW Hos-pital; and a skybridge over Westlake Ave. N. built for the Attachmate Corporation. Faced with opposition from the Pedestrian and Design boards and Allied Arts, ZymoGenet-ics in 1999 withdrew its proposal for a private skybridge over Eastlake Ave., and working with ECC and the City, got at-grade crossings benefitting employees and the gen-eral public alike.

For the ECC letter and other background, see eastlakese-attle.org. Your views and involvement regarding this issue are welcome and needed, to [email protected] or (206) 322-5463.

ECC seeks public interest alternative to proposed Hutch skybridge over Eastlake Avenue

Some dog owners unleash their dogs at Rogers Play-field, which is entirely prohibited at Rogers and every other City park except in designated off-leash areas. But even on a leash, dogs aren’t allowed in park areas where children play, and at Rogers that’s virtually all of the grassy area. In-creasing dog urine and feces in the grassy areas are a health hazard to children and others. The grass is contaminated even after poop is bagged, while doggie’s claws also rip the turf into a muddy mess.

For a legal and hygienic alternative, ECC teamed with Citizens for Off Leash Areas (COLA) and the Parks Dept. to establish the I-5 Colonnade Park off-leash area (one of the country’s few that is protected from rain), and now is working with COLA and Parks to replace the current gravel with more paw-friendly crushed granite. Please let ECC know ([email protected], 206-322-5463) your ideas for making Colonnade into Eastlake’s preferred off leash destination.

At the Lynn street-end park on Sept. 7, an unleashed pit bull severely injured another dog, whose owner is seeking witnesses; let us know if you can help.

Rogers Playfield going to the dogs; improved Colonnade off-leash area a safer alternative


at (206) 684-7587; or on the web at http://www.seattle.gov/util/index.htm.

At the Jan. 25 public meeting on emergency prepared-ness, a City official urged ECC to publicize a place to come to in a disaster for first aid, food, etc. Until further notice, that place will be Rogers Playfield, 2500 Eastlake Ave. ECC is asking local doctors, nurses, paramedics, and others with first aid training to be included on a confidential list to be contacted to help care for people stricken during an emergency -- contact Dr. Jeremy Thueson, [email protected] or 801-243-2136 and [email protected].

To get involved in emergency preparedness (e.g. to organize your block or dock, if you operate a ham radio or satellite telephone or have some other way to help) con-tact ECC at [email protected] (coordinator Doreen Nash) and [email protected], and/or call (206) 322-5463. Highly recommended are short, free City courses by Se-attle’s Office of Emergency Management: www.seattle.gov/emergency or (206) 233-7123.

Someone is dumping piles of bread crumbs on the shore-line lawn near the intersection of Fairview Ave. E. and E. Blaine Street, just north of where the Islander is docked. The Eastlake Community Council is working with the cruise company to try to find this well-meaning person and explain why that’s not such a good idea.

The crumbs attract geese, ducks, and pigeons in such numbers that the area is saturated with their poop, which mixes with the crumbs and infects the birds as well as people and dogs. The runoff also pollutes Lake Union and promotes algae and aquatic weeds. Even clean crumbs aren’t healthy for birds, which won’t eat enough of what is good for them, and will multiply beyond a sustainable number and stay around all winter rather than migrate. Plus, rats feast on the crumbs.

Better for the birds is to restore native plants (as at the Sunday, March 11 work party—11 a.m to 2 p.m. at and near that shoreline site). Native plants provide healthy food and habitat and they are dispersed, so the birds and poop don’t concentrate in one area. Please help at the work party and/or let us know your ideas at [email protected] or 206-322-5463.

Public Meetings cont. from pg. 8

Bread crumbs don’t help shoreline birds; March 11 work party does



As reported in our winter 2011/12 issue, the huge former NOAA parcel (2.1 land acres, 6.4 submerged acres, and rights to 1.9 acres of submerged state land) is for sale. Since then, purchase of the northern third has fallen through—probably a good thing, as purchase of the entire site will allow the developer, City and community, to better plan and balance the impacts. Developer Wally Trace is still interested, as are others, and no purchaser has the property under contract. Meanwhile the Mayor and City Council have not made good on a 1999 commitment in adopting the Eastlake Neighborhood Plan to “Plan for the re-development of NOAA and other major properties along the Fairview shoreline in a way that strengthens Eastlake’s existing industrial maritime uses, recreational users, shoreline habitat and floating home community.” With the bleak exception of loss of about a fifth of the neighborhood to I-5, never before has such a large Eastlake parcel changed hands and uses. Let’s be proactive! Please help ECC (contact information below) research this opportunity and ensure that the public interest is served.

Also in the previous issue, we noted how Eastlake is the embodiment of its businesses, including ones like the Nettletown restaurant that have closed (on August 28). How infinitely more true when remarkable Eastlakers pass away, as did Nettletown’s founder on Dec. 28, the late Christina Kim Choi--so cruelly of a brain aneurysm that she, her family, and the rest of us could not know was making her give up this restaurant that she was so proud of. She brought joy to so many, yet none saw how very many until all, in their sense of loss, joined to celebrate her life. (See article about Christina, p.20.)

Another grievous loss was UW Professor of Psychology Davida Teller, whose discoveries about infant and child vision have helped generations of those at risk for visual impairment—and who also cruelly suffered from a brain condition. After we lost Prof. Teller in October in her 73rd year, her family wrote: “She was imperfect, practical, brilliant, witty, and loving.” How better to sum up the personalities today and those we remember that together build this Eastlake community! Would that there were space in this newsletter to fully acknowledge all those we lose to the remorselessness of fate.

Don’t miss ECC’s Spring Celebration on Thurs., May 3, 5-8 p.m. at the Ship Canal Grill, 3218 Eastlake Ave. E. Small bites at no charge, $4-$7 appetizers, $5 wines, $4 beers, and $5 well drinks (and/or order off the menu). … And thanks to Champagne Cruises (1611 Fairview Ave. E., www.champagnecruise.com) for hosting the ECC’s

big Dec. 1 holiday cruise amidst the “Christmas ships.” The Islander is an historic 72-foot icebreaker ferry now grandly refitted as Seattle’s busiest party boat. Among the attendees: the entire staff of Napolitano Spa (3212 Harvard Ave. E., 206-838-4700, http://napolitanospa.com).

Eastlake is the headquarters of three of the state’s largest privately held companies. One is Merrill Gardens (1938 Fairview Ave. E., http://www.merrillgardens.com), which operates independent and assisted living residences in nine states, and nationally is the third largest in its industry. This family business began with timberlands and sawmills, and had the insight twenty years ago to foresee today’s huge demand for new forms of senior housing. Another large privately-held Eastlake company is Lake Union Drydock 1515 Fairview Ave. E., www.ludd.com 206-323-6400), a full service shipyard specializing in repair and/or conversion such as with the Virginia V, Washington state ferries, and many fish and crab factory ships. It also has built or reconditioned many U.S. Navy minesweepers.

A third large privately held company headquartered here is National Frozen Foods (1600 Fairview Ave. E. #2, 206-322-8900, www.nffc.com) which on January 15 celebrated its centennial. It began with canning strawberries in 1912 and then in the 1930s was among the pioneers in freezing fruit and vegetables. Now at plants in Oregon

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and Washington it freezes more than 400 million pounds of vegetables, including corn, peas, carrots, and beans (green, lima, and other varieties), mostly for the labels of grocery chains. National Frozen Foods originated along Seattle’s Duwamish waterway, with headquarters in our Eastlake neighborhood since 1975. The company’s much-appreciated sponsorship donation helped enable ECC’s 2011 summer movie night in Rogers Playfield.

STEPS is a consulting company (2366 Eastlake Ave E #102, 206-829-9328, http://autismsteps.com) that provides comprehensive educational, social, behavioral, and community services to young children on the autism spectrum. With the motto “Success Through Education, Play, and Support,” its consultants work with families and other service providers to create and maintain an engaging learning environment that may include individualized home therapy, social skills groups, and/or community outings which increase a child’s ability to independently access the environment around them. STEPS also offers workshops and trainings that give both parents and professionals the tools to successfully interact with children on the spectrum.

A restaurant review in the Seattle Times spotlighting kid-friendly restaurants mentions Wednesday Family Night at Louisa’s Café and Bakery (2379 Eastlake Ave., 206-325-0081, louisascafe.com), with half-off on the kids’ menu. … Close to the north end of the University Bridge, thousands of new UW dormitory rooms are being opened, providing possible new business for Eastlake’s restaurants and shops. Contact the author of this column if you’d like to join a UW tour of the new complex. … ECC is organizing efforts to protect and improve the neighborhood’s Metro bus service. Contact us at [email protected] if you’d like to get involved or be kept informed.

Eastlake business Earth Dance Design (117 E. Louisa St. #128, 206-779-3118, earthdancedesign.com) is continuing its recent years’ efforts to bring flowers to our streetscape, with financial support from the Eastlake Community Council and local businesses and residents (see list at earthdancedesign.com). Owner Corrine Hollister is a certified arborist and is trained in horticulture and landscape design. Her business offers landscape design, installation, garden maintenance, consultation, and coaching, with a particular emphasis on sustainability.

Dentist Lourdes M. Acuesta (1500 Fairview Ave. E. #302, 206-322-7706) is offering free consultation for new patients and free cleaning and checkup for new patient kids twelve and under. … J’s Salon (2501 Eastlake Ave., 206-325-

CELEBRATING OUR 9th YEAR IN EASTLAKE!

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6420, [email protected]) offers haircuts, color, styling, perms, waxing, hair straightening, and brown/lash tinting. Hours are Mon.-Sat. 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sun. 10-5. … Eastlake photographer, artist, and scientist Lars Peterson does dynamic photos of rock bands and flattering photos of female models, and produces for other clients unique photos (via props, costumes, body painting, Photoshop etc.) showing them as beautiful mermaids, super heroines, astrology signs, tarot cards, and other fantasy personalities. See www.Larspeterson.com for his gallery.

Classified by the county as a noxious weed, Japanese knotweed destroys all other plants, spreads aggressively, and, once established, is almost impossible to eradicate. With the proper permits, a professional will inject mild herbicide into the stems in Eastlake’s parks and open spaces. Do you know of infestations on public land or do you have private land that needs

treatment? Please contact this column’s author. … Free financial workshops and advice, including tax preparation, application for public benefits, and shredding of financial documents, are available at Financial Fitness Day, Sat., March 31 at the Rainier community Center, 4600 38th Ave. South. On what to bring to make the most of the help, see www.skcabc.org/fitnessfair.

After ECC’s Jan. 25 public meeting amidst our cold snap, the warm hooded liner for a Marvin Richards brand overcoat (size: small) was left behind. Will the owner please contact us so we can return it to you?

Mention here does not imply endorsement by the ECC, writer (Chris Leman), or editor. To submit news items, for questions or to volunteer: [email protected]) or c/o ECC, 117 E. Louisa St. #1, Seattle 98102, or (206) 322-5463.

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2727 Fairview Ave. E.Suite BHamlin Pier, Seattle 98102

Phone: (206) 293-8810By appointment only

ManicuresPedicuresAcrylics (odor free)Out Calls

One of the oldest businesses in Eastlake is Wilson and Hayes, Inc. (1601 Eastlake Ave. E., 206-323-6758, www.wilson-and-hayes.com). Founded in 1935 and now in its third generation of ownership by the same family, the company manufactures shipboard approved marine furniture. It is a major supplier to the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. This drawing is used by permission of Wilson and Hayes.

Donated design skills needed to complete Fairview Green Street

The Eastlake Neighborhood Plan got the City to designate Fairview Ave. E. between Fuhrman and Hamlin and between Roanoke and Newton as a “neighborhood green street.” What that means, and getting City money to build it, requires a graphic Street Design Concept Plan that ECC will submit for City adoption with your ideas and help. Please comment on the text posted at eastlakeseattle.org. But we most need drawings of what each Fairview segment should look like. To donate design skills or if you know someone who will, let us know: [email protected] or 206-322-5463.


C A R L D . A N D E R S O N , D V MT R A C Y F U E L L E M A N , D V MM A R K D ’ O R A Z I O , D V M

EASTLAKE

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1536 Eastlake Ave E., Seattle WA 98102 (206) 328-2675W W W. E A S T L A K E V E T E R I N A R Y H O S P I TA L . C O M

Official Name: George Kingen, owner of Pete’s Wine Shop

Unofficial name: “George” First Sighting: George Kingen bought Pete’s Super in 1974, about five years after Pete Omalanz opened it. Back then, the wine section took up a humble four feet of space. Every time a customer made a certain wine request, Kingen dutifully brought back the selection from the liquor store, but always purchased a few extra bottles for the store. People started noticing that Pete’s always had something interesting and soon wine bottles filled every corner – now taking up 100 feet of space with 2,500 different labels, about half the size of the grocery store. Even today, Kingen will fulfill a request to find and order just one bottle of wine. Everybody

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behind the register learns about wine on the job, but their recommendations always work. “We get to know the customers and we make recommendations from there,” says Kingen.

Primary Habitat: Kingen owns two Pete’s Wine Shops, one in Bellevue and one on Lynn Street in Eastlake. He can often be found in the back room behind the deli at the Eastlake store in a closet-sized room covered with wine posters and quotes. These days, people come from all over the state to shop at Pete’s, but George appreciates the diversity of the Eastlake neighborhood. “People come in here from all walks of life and that keeps it interesting,” he says, “We have the homeless, the millionaires, the authors, the boaters.”

How are Eastlakians cooler than Bellevueites? Kingen would only reveal that Eastlakians are exceptionally friendly and order more reds than the Bellevueites. Chardonnay is the biggest seller at the Bellevue store.

George makes a recommendation to regular customer, Dane, who drives from Queen Anne to shop at Pete’s.

How bad is it to order red wine with fish? “It’s a misconception that you can’t order what you enjoy. I drink red with everything – even salmon. We might recommend something lighter and not as heavy to go with a delicate fish, but you really don’t need to worry about that.”

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Told to stay home from school and, if you could, from work as well during this year’s snow and ice storm, many Eastlakers enjoy the neighborhood as it’s rarely seen.

Restaurants and the Zoo bustle, and hills belong to the sledders well into the night.

Snow January 18-21, 2011

Cabin Fever makes Eastlake a fun place to be in the snow

Michael Proffit is an Eastlake photographer. Find more of his work at www.mprofittphotography.com.


During the recent holiday drive, Eastlake neighbors and friends generously donated $1,275 in cash and 425 pounds of food and other needed items to the University District Food Bank. A recent letter states, “On behalf of the University District Food Bank staff, the board of directors, our many community volunteers and the 1000 families that we help each week, thank you for your donations in December 2011.” The ECC also appreciates and wants to thank the Eastlake businesses who hosted neighborhood collection sites-Champagne Cruises, Eastlake Mail, Lake Union Mail, Pete’s Wine Shop and the Washington State Employees Credit Union.

Your contributions will help make sure that the food bank continues to be there for our hungry neighbors in 2012. Donations throughout the year can continue to be made directly to the University District Food Bank, by mail to 4731 – 15th Avenue NE, Seattle WA 98105 or online at www.udistrictfoodbank.org.

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The three views here (right) are of the same vessel, the J. E. Boyden, a 95’ steam tug built in Seattle in 1888 and resting in the south end of Lake Union. SONAR Scans were made by Ross Laboratories, an Eastlake business.

Center for Wooden Boats presents “Mysteries of Lake Union uncovered by SONAR, SCUBA, photography, chemistry, and biology.”Join Dick Wagner of Center for Wooden Boats for a discussion of sunken mysteries under Lake Union, Mon, April 23, 7 p.m. at TOPS-Seward School. For more information visit http://cwb.ogr/lu_archy. Here’s a sneak preview:

The diver (above) is at the stem of a boat of unknown origins. With time we will match the dimensions and other details of it to make a good guess. That’s part of the fun and adventure of finding boats with no names.


Child of Eastlake: Christina Kim Choi, 1977-2011

Foods recipe calendar that she created; and her best friend, Emily Counts, illustrated.

“Her home was the center of the universe, the Eastlake neighborhood where she lived,” Matt Dillon, her consulting business partner at Nettletown, told the Seattle Times. “We all loved and gathered in that neighborhood, and her house was the center of that, and food was always the center of that.”

Not only did she feed friends and family, she also provided meals to local homeless people, and accepted trades of food for labor, such as washing the windows.

The wonder-ful energy and passion Chris-tina had for life and food comes through in reading her blog, Nettletown, numerous news-paper articles about her and interviews with her, and lots of anecdotes from friends and family. The guestbook on the blog that her family kept while helping Christina bravely struggle with a fatal brain aneurysm, Honey from a Weed (http://honey-fromaweed.wordpress.com/), was signed by nearly two hundred people.

Seattle’s restaurant community combined to produce a matchless din-ner after her Jan. 4 memo-rial service, and both events over-flowed with friends from many times and parts of her life. The beautiful service was at St. Patricks where Christina’s mother has worked for many years.

On Dec. 28 Eastlake lost cherished resident and business person Christina Choi at the age of 34. Considered a

rising star in the local food community, Christina ran the eatery Nettletown that highlighted wild and local foods. (In business from March 2010 to August 2011 in the spot once occupied by Sitka and Spruce and now home to Blind Pig Bistro.)

“Walking around and picking something that you know you can eat is so natural.” Christina was quoted in the Seattle Times saying “I think it’s really important to know things that are edible. It’s good for people’s souls to feel resourceful.”

Born in Seattle to parents of Swiss and Chinese heritage, Christina lived her earliest years in the family’s Eastlake apartment house.

When the family moved to Montlake, she continued to attend Seward School as well as St. Joseph’s. She went to Seattle Prep where she graduated in her junior year. Her first restaurant job, while still in high school, was at the Surrogate Hostess, an innovative Capitol Hill spot. She went on to study culinary arts at Seattle Central Commu-nity College.

What got Christina interested in cooking? According to a Seattle Weekly interview it was, she said, “My family, home cooking, old cookbooks, communes, the earth.”

She moved back to Eastlake when she was about 19-years-old and had lived in the family apartments ever since. “She loved living in Eastlake,” says her sister, Eliza-beth Choi Rudd, “Especially loved the 4th of July celebra-tions. She was very familiar with locations of herbs and ed-ible native plants in the neighborhood and would often pick them for her own cooking or sometimes the restaurant.”

Early on in her career she also worked at Bandoleone on Eastlake Avenue with chef, Jeremy Faber, and later at Adriatica, Sapphire, The Herbfarm, and the Olive Branch. With Faber, she co-founded Foraged and Found Edibles, a business that sells wild foods at local farmers markets and to local restaurants. Foraged and Found gave rise to a Wild

My first exposure to nettles as food was through Italian cuisine – nettle gnocchi and nettle ricotta filled ravioli are common nettle imbued versions of these favorites. After years of harvest-ing I have expanded my nettle reper-toire. My favorite use now is in green fillings for Mediterranean style pies, such as a nettle version of spanikopita or something like my recipe in the 2009 Illustrated Wild Foods Recipe Calendar for Flaky Semolina Flat-bread Stuffed With Nettles And Herbs. This tasty filling is a great way to use whatever greens and herbs you have foraged or might have in your fridge or garden. Also perfect not only as a bread or pastry filling but also eaten tossed with pasta or in frittata.

-- Christina Choi, excerpt from Nettletown blog

Mama always said eat your nettles

Nettles are one of the first plants to pop out of the ground in early spring. Harvest until flowering in late spring or early summer. As the season progresses head for higher land to find younger plants. After plants get taller than 8 to 10 inches, harvest only the top two sets of leaves for the most tender and nutritious part. As the plant gets older the lower leaves become gritty and tough. Use gardening gloves and scissors to trim just under the top two leaf sets. If you cut close enough you won’t need to trim any tough stem off later when cooking.

-- Christina Choi, excerpt from Nettletown blog

Harvesting Nettles


The Filling ½ lb nettles, about 2 ½ quarts packed

¼ lb foraged or farmed greens – spinach, chard, miner’s lettuce, chick weed, purslane, lamb’s quarter, pea vines, watercress, etc.

1 small onion, diced

2 tbsp olive oil

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Blanch nettles for a few minutes, scoop out with strainer, and lay out on a sheet pan to cool. Repeat with remaining greens. When cool squeeze greens dry and chop medium fine. Heat skillet on medium-high and sauté onions in olive oil until translucent. Add chopped greens and sauté until heated through. Take off heat and add herbs, scallions, and salt. Stir until herbs are wilted. Taste for salt and set aside to cool. Assemble and cook.

Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat. Place a ball of dough on an oiled surface; flatten and stretch (or use a rolling pin) into a 7-8 inch round. Brush dough liberally with olive oil, fold in half, and brush again. Place 2-3 tbsp of filling in center and fold over sides to form a triangle. Flatten slightly with hand and place in pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until brown and crispy. Repeat with re-maining dough and filling. Serve immediately or hold finished breads in warm oven.

FLAKY SEMOLINA FLATBREAD STUFFED WITH NETTLES AND HERBS

The nettles in this recipe are just the beginning. This filling is a perfect way to use any for-aged greens from the forest or your garden. You probably have many delicious, nutritious weeds and herbs growing in your yard just waiting to be discovered. The dough for the bread is very for-giving and easy to work with, but don’t hesitate to use this filling with prepared fillo or puff pastry. Serve alone or with yogurt. Recipe makes 18 small flatbreads.

1 tsp salt

1 cup mint leaves, chopped

2 cups mixed herbs – parsley, fennel, dill, chervil, wood sorrel, garden sorrel, lemon balm, lemon verbena, or chives, chopped

½ bunch scallions, sliced thin

Semolina Dough – recipe on back page

For those wishing to make a donation in her memory, the family has suggested Seattle Tilth (4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., #100, Seattle 98103 or on-line at seattletilth.org). Some of these funds will be spent in Eastlake, such as to install wild and edible plants where pavement now exists.

To help remember her, we reprint a recipe and some of her writings, and a brother’s eulogy that captures the food, fun, family, and friends that were her life.

A brother’s tribute to Christina Choi[The following eulogy by Christopher Choi is reprinted by permission from

http://honeyfromaweed.wordpress.com]

When I was 19, Christina was hired to run a little place called the Olive Branch. The first person she hired was….not me. It was Noah Oldham. But the second person she hired….was not me too. But I was the third. (And I lasted the longest.) Thus started my run of ten years of riding Christina’s coattails through the Seattle culinary scene, a

good run in the end, but man was it a rough start.

The Olive Branch was a challenge to be-gin with, and Christina was new at running things herself. That’s probably why she trusted me with a set of keys. But she also trusted me to step up, giving me responsi-bilities far exceeding my experience. And I wanted to step up, for her. All these people would come in and

SEMOLINA DOUGHfor Nettle Flatbread

3 cups semolina flour1 tbsp salt3 tbsp olive oil1 2/3 cups warm water

Mix semolina and salt in a bowl. While mixing with a wooden spoon, slowly add warm water, and olive oil. Continue mixing dough until the water is evenly distributed and dough begins to come together. Remove dough to work surface and knead until smooth and soft, about 10 minutes. Alternatively use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Divide dough into 3 pieces and divide each third into 6 balls. Oil balls and place on pan cov-ered with plastic wrap. Let dough rest 20 minutes.

Nature has a way of honoring Christina Choi on its own. One of her favorite wild plants is coming into season. From her Wild Foods 2009 calendar, below is a recipe for stinging nettles, a lowly plant dismissed by many but which, epitomizing her sunny resourcefulness, Christina turned into something wonderful:

Continued on next page


rave about the food and coo over my sister and it made me proud. Being there was the first time I really got to see how much people loved Christina’s food, and really just how much people loved Christina, like Jeremy (Faber) and her friends. Jeremy didn’t technically work there, but he was around, a lot, helping out with whatever needed to be done. Complaining about it, but still doing it. I didn’t really know Jeremy then, and I guess you could say I didn’t really know Christina that well either, but working at the Olive Branch was sort of the beginning of this change in our relationship, where she wasn’t just my older sister but my friend as well. Hanging out with her and her friends always made me feel so cool and mature and I thought they were the coolest. And it was like a social associative property, where just because everyone loved Christina so much I got automatic approval because I was “Christina’s little brother” – so I had to be pretty cool, or at least alright. Going camping with them, usually for Christina’s birthday but sometimes not, are some of my absolute favorite memories.

The Olive Branch experience was unfortunately short-lived but working in restaurants, our lives remained intertwined. Whether it be doing caterings together or giving me odd jobs with Foraged and Found, Christina was always looking out for me. When I moved into the family apartments, just across the hallway from Christina, we only grew more close, and she often had to hear me vent about my jobs. I remember during one of these many bouts of discontent with the restaurant industry she had gotten me a trial run at replacing her friend Jodi at Lake Union Mail. After a few shifts and finding it not for me, I told Christina I didn’t want to do it. While explaining to me why I should do it and how it was a perfect job for me, she began to cry, frustrated by my inability to grasp an opportunity that she believed would lead me to happiness. This is the first time I realized how much she loved me.

Living together in the apartments had kind of made us a subfamily unit, and my mom sometimes referred to us as “the kids”, more of a reflection on what restaurant work does to your maturity more than our age I think. So when she decided to open a restaurant, there was no question if I would work there. We never even discussed it. She told me she was opening a restaurant and then we just began talk-ing about it. This time I got to be the first hire.

From the beginning, Nettletown was a reflection of Christina and her magnetic personality. It was born out of the efforts of not only herself, but also that of family and friends pitching in to make her dream a reality. Christina had a friend for every occasion, and I don’t say that in a crass way. She just had so many damn friends that the odds that she knew someone who knew how to do this or get that were real high. So from the support and opportunity from Matt, the beautiful, intricate mural from Maiija, the carpentry from Jason, the wiring from JC, the floor from Teddy and Matt, painting help from Theresa, and the love and support from the rest of her family and friends, all directed and harnessed by Christina, Nettletown was born.

And it was fun working with Christina again. We made deals so that we wouldn’t have to do the jobs we each

hated, gossiped about the other tenants in the strip mall, argued about where things should go, how much salt things needed, if our other employees were insane, ate lots of noodles and drank lots of FRS, and made lots of good food. Christina would often bring back dim sum and other treats on her frequent trips to Chinatown for the restaurant. My shumai consumption went up drastically. It was always just little things she brought back, but it showed that she cared and was thinking of you in her day to day dealings. A lot of it was crazy Vietnamese desserts from Than Bros. but still, it’s the thought that counts.

The best part, though, was that almost every day a friend or family member would come in. So many people would wander in and out of our kitchen to say hi it was crazy. I never knew if they were delivering something or just a friend. Of course, in true Christina fashion, the delivery people all became friends as well, if they weren’t already, usually staying to chat and picking up some soup before they hit the road. And although it annoyed me often at the time, Christina would try to spend time with all her friends when they would come in, squeezing next to them on the bench to talk for a minute. Or five.

The most regular visitors though were our family. We usually have dinner together once a week, but now I was seeing my family two-three times a week each. Teddy and Katie would grab takeout, Matt and Ami were a given on Friday nights, Liz and Theresa with their kids every Tues-day and sometimes again on Fridays, and Mom was good for at least one real lunch and one drop in soup raid a week. And our nephews loved it. Donovan would help me wash dishes after eating his special bacon sandwich, or special noodles, one day coming in extra prepared with goggles to keep the spray out of his face. And Matty would just sit in your arms or on the counter watching everything happen in the kitchen, never losing interest or fussing, entranced by what was going on around him. It didn’t hurt if you gave him a rosemary shortbread cookie to munch on too.

But you can’t blame him, most people would have been entranced in that kitchen too because sometimes magic was happening. We would start a lot of mornings with a bunch of random stuff and no daily soup. By 11, we’d have some daily soup that Hala or Davin would be devouring, telling Christina how tasty it was. Same with the daily salad or anything really not printed on the menu. Christina would ask me for ideas, and sometimes we’d collaborate but mostly she’d just order some stuff that sounded good to her and then figure out what to do with it. Or she’d take simple things like seaweed or seeds and turn them into addictive snacks that people would crave and keep coming back for. With Christina, it was never about the technique, it was always about the vision.

To sum up Christina’s life and what she meant to us in words and memories is a futile task though, for every anecdote recalls more, each emotion felt just triggers more. So I’ll just say Christina was my best friend, I love her so much and I’ll miss her every day.

A brother’s tribute to Christina Choi continued


The Eastlake Community Council greatly appreciates the annual work party (Nov. 12, 2011 photo) in which Troop 171 scouts and their parents clean up and improve the shoreline, with the help of Lake Union Drydock.

For more Cartoon of the Word (of the Day) [Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day] by Eastlake cartoonist, John Ambrosavage, or to sign up and receive daily emails of both, visit www.ambrotoons.com.

Cartoon of the Word (of the Day)

Advertise in the Eastlake NewsContact Kevin Haywood, Advertsing Coordinator, at [email protected]


Become an ECC Member and/or Make a Donation

The Eastlake Community Council is volunteer, so dues and donations go a long way, and your involvement is welcome and needed.

____________________________________ name(s)

____________________________________street address or PO box

____________________________________city, state, zip code

phone: _______________________________

e-mail: _______________________________

□ Household Membership $35 □ Student / Senior / Low Income Membership $10 □ Business Membership $75 □ Donation $______

Today’s date: ___________________

Please send this form with a check made out to ECC to:ECC, 117 E. Louisa St. #1, Seattle, WA 98102-3278

Or you may join and pay by credit or debit card at http://www.eastlakeseattle.org

For questions: [email protected] or (206) 322-5463.

Be a cornerstone for your community -- Volunteer!

We invite you to check off one or more interests (need not be a member or donor to volunteer):

□ Help with web site, data base, social media, or video

□ Art walk or public art □ Parks and open spaces □ Traffic and parking issues □ Bus/transit service □ Review building proposals or legislation □ Crime prevention or emergency preparedness □ Neighborhood history or photography □ Door-to-door newsletter distribution □ __________________ (suggest something new!)

The Eastlake Community Council membership is open to all who live, work, or own property in Eastlake.

Enjoy an evening of conviviality and meet your neighbors at the Eastlake

Community Council’s spring celebra-tion, co-sponsored with the Ship Canal Grill. Small bites at no charge, $4-$7 appetizers, $5 wines, $4 beers, and $5 well drinks (and/or order off the menu). Free garage and lot parking. With the motto of “celebrating the history and culture of the neighborhood,” the Grill has on its walls historic photos from the Museum of History and Industry. At the May 3 celebration, photos will also be on display from the historical archives of the Eastlake Community Council, which welcomes the donation or loan of photos and mementoes of the neighborhood.

ECC spring celebration Thurs., May 3

Ship Canal Grill3218 Eastlake Ave. E.

5-8 p.m.

the eastlake news · the eastlake news spring 2012 continued on page 2 and 3 meet mayor mike mcginn...

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